Ocean updates served in stragglers, flocks, and set waves

Look out, Ivorybill: return of the Bollywood Bobwhite

Two years ago, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker swooped out of the mists of extinction. It landed briefly on the trunk of a bald cypress in Arkansas and then, with a few beats of its white-trailing-edge wings, bounded back into oblivion.

It looks like another bird half a world away is trying the same trick. The Manipur Bush-Quail, unseen and presumed lost for 80 years, has been spotted by an eminent Indian ornithologist. Cornell University is facing criticism over its blurry video evidence and subsequent inability to re-rediscover the Ivorybill, but so far there has been no such skepticism for the bush-quail’s discoverer. Anwaruddin Choudhury’s single sighting report seems enough for now. The BBC has details.

About the Scribbler

Hugh Powell is a little weary of big-ticket items like Pluto, the Mars rover, and small fossilized humans getting all the science news coverage. Keep an eye out here for wisps and scraps you won't find anywhere else. Particularly about the ocean, which is really cool and, honestly speaking, much bigger than you think.